Movement against right wing gains momentum

BERLIN — Tens of thousands of people protested against the right wing in cities across Germany on Saturday, attending events with slogans such as "Never again is now", "Against hate" and "Defend democracy". The large crowds were the latest in a series of demonstrations that have been gaining momentum in recent days.

The demonstrations came in the wake of a report that right-wing extremists recently met to discuss deporting millions of immigrants, including some with German citizenship. Some members of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, were present at the meeting.

Police said a Saturday afternoon protest in Frankfurt drew 35,000 people. Demonstrations in Stuttgart and Nuremberg, among other cities, also drew large crowds.

A similar demonstration on Friday in Hamburg, Germany's second-largest city, drew what police said was a crowd of 50,000 and had to be ended early because the mass of people led to safety concerns.

Additional protests planned for Sunday in other major German cities, including Berlin, Munich and Cologne, were also expected to draw tens of thousands of people.

Although Germany has seen other protests against the right wing in past years, the size and scope of protests being held this weekend — not just in major cities, but also in dozens of smaller cities across the country — are notable.

Wake-up sign

Saturday's crowds were a sign that the protests seemed to be galvanizing popular opposition to the AfD in a new way. What started out as relatively small gatherings have grown into protests that, in many cases, are drawing far more participants than organizers expected.

The catalyst for the protests was a report from the media outlet Correctiv last week on an alleged right-wing meeting in November, which it said was attended by figures from the Identitarian Movement and from the AfD.

A prominent member of the Identitarian Movement, Austrian citizen Martin Sellner, presented his "remigration" vision for deportations, the report said.

The AfD has sought to distance itself from the meeting, saying it had no organizational or financial links to the event, that it was not responsible for what was discussed there and members who attended did so in a purely personal capacity. Still, one of the AfD's co-leaders, Alice Weidel, has parted ways with an adviser who was present there.

The protests also build on growing anxiety over the last year about the AfD's rising support among the German electorate.

The AfD was founded in 2013 and entered the German Bundestag in 2017. Polling now puts it in second place nationally with about 23 percent, compared with the 10.3 percent it won in the last federal election in 2021.

Bayern Munich soccer coach Thomas Tuchel spoke out against right-wing extremism at a Saturday news conference: "There is no doubt about it, we stand up 1000 percent against any kind of extremism," he said. For such a message, he added, there can "never be too many voices".

Agencies via Xinhua